Weird Al Yankovic's Coming Back to Basic Cable!

​The king of novelty music, Weird Al Yankovic has had a fruitful and lucrative career, yet very few will claim him as their favorite artist. His parody work is amazingly perfect. In many cases, it's his spoof of the original that launches the song he's ripping on to classic status. "Like a Surgeon,""Girls Just Wanna Have Lunch," "Phony Calls," and all his Jacko-based jams -- anytime Weird Al makes his version of a song, that's when you truly know: That song is an international superhit.

We'll get to see Al perform all his hits and nonhits on October 1, when Comedy Central premieres "Weird Al" Yankovic Live! -- The Alpocalypse Tour. Like his role UHF, our favorite zany underdog will rule the air. Thank you for wising up, Comedy Central -- we're getting tired of groaning at Jeff Dunham and his dorky puppets. We can pretty much guarantee that Alpocalypse will be devoid of redneck jokes or Carlos Mencia-style stolen jokes. What we will get is tons of hilarious music, wholesome ridiculous wackiness and -- in typical Al fashion -- an accordion medley of today's biggest hits.

Since he's silly and fun, it's easy to write him off. The truth is, he is an extremely talented lyricist, comedian, and accordion virtuoso. To his surprise, sometimes Al makes enemies. Coolio is famously irked at the "Gangsta's Paradise" parody "Amish Paradise."

Eminem refuses to let Yankovic parody him, out of fear that somehow a silly joke song will tarnish his image. For a little while, Lady Gaga's management denied him permission to take on "Born This Way," Gaga, an admitted Weird Al fan, stepped in and let him make "Perform This Way."

On the flipside, others are honored and excited when they get a call from Al. Nirvana was psyched for Yankovic's parody of "Smells Like Teen Spirit." Of course, they assumed it would be about food (like "Eat It,""My Bologna" or "Fat") -- it was actually about Cobain's unintelligible vocal approach.

Much like how his classic polka freak-out "Polka Your Eyes" from 1992's Off the Deep End featured snippets of "Enter Sandman," "The Humpty Dance," and "Losing My Religion," this year's mega-mix will feature songs by Beiber, Ke$ha, and la Gagisima.

As someone who owns UHF on VHS, I don't need to say how pumped I am about this. You know who should be equally pumped? The equally hilarious Lonely Island, Tenacious D, and Bloodhound Gang. If Al hadn't broken into the mainstream with flowers a-squirtin', we'd have no "Jizz in My Pants," "The Greatest Song in the World," or "Discovery Channel." So, suck on that, Trebek!

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